RESIDENTS from a block of flats in Pontypool town centre, destroyed by an accidental fire in 2014, are preparing to move back into their properties.
On Tuesday January 26, Caervachnant House will be fully restored and the tenants and property owners will be officially allowed to return home.
The blaze, which started in the early hours of Friday August 15 2014, engulfed the entire building on Hanbury Road, with the St David’s Foundation charity shop on the ground floor completely ruined.
As the inferno grew, it wrecked the two floors above the premises, with a team of 50 firefighters from across Gwent bringing it under control.
Melin Homes, who own the building, have announced that the charity shop will resume trading as part of the development.
“I want to thank everybody involved in bringing the building back into safe use after the fire, particularly the patience of our residents and neighbours during this time,” said Owain Roberts, assistant director of asset management at Melin Homes.
Nobody was injured in the fire, although an elderly man in his sixties was rescued by the South Wales Fire and Rescue Service as flames tore through the building.
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